This invention relates generally to a data processing system involving adaptive logic and more particularly to a pattern recognition system through which optical image data is processed.
The use of lasers, optical fibers and other optical elements such as lenses, lenslet arrays, holograms and optical transforms for image sensing, coding and data processing purposes is generally well known. Systems utilizing such optical elements have been developed for pattern recognition purposes as disclosed for example in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,838,903, 4,317,610 and 4,674,824 to Leith et al., Breglia et al. and Goodman et al., respectively.
The use of an optical fiber type of cavity resonator is also known in the art as disclosed for example in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,576,502, 5,004,342, 5,008,887 and 5,050,183 to Johnston, Jr., Bernard et al., Kofka et al. and.Duling.III. According to the Johnson Jr. patent, bistable states of the cavity resonator having mode competitive gain, are defined by transverse mode switching in response to an injected low level input. Laser light conducting fiber ring types of cavity resonators are disclosed in the other aforementioned cavity resonator patents. According to the Duling III patent, the optical ring fibers are doped and provided with a coupling to an optical pump while the Kafka et al. patent discloses a doped fiber ring coupled to a source of laser light through a dichroic mirror.
It is an important object of the present invention to provide a system which may be implemented by prior art use of the aforementioned optical elements including optical cavity resonators, to perform image pattern recognition functions in a more reliable and noise-free manner.